3D Books

Anyone remotely interested in animation should pick up this book. It is amazing. It is truly the perfect reference book for anyone who wants to animate, and do it well.

This is one of the best books on frame-by-frame 2D non-vector animation. The only problem is, Richard Williams overdoes it by a large margin. He is a man possessed with talent, and he demands perfection of himself. That is a hard way to do things, no? In every other respect, this book is excellent. By the way, the culmination of Richard Williams' style of work is the movie The Cobbler and the Thief, available online on [...]. The exact title to search for is this: The Thief and the Cobbler (2007 Recobbled Cut) [v2.0]

This is one of those books that has helped me out alot. If you are a beginning animator in need of learning the principles of animation or if you have had difficulty figuring out how to create walk cycles and facial character animation, then this book is for you.

I give this book 5 stars simply because it was written in a style that's easy to read and understand and uses common terminology. The best part about it is the readability and resourcefulness of the content. Everything a student needs to learn the subject matter in a motivating format!

If you like normal animation and if you like 3d animation or if you like stop motion animation...you'll find all information needed and much more inside this unique book!

I am a 3d professional artist for a long time, I have to say I have read hundreds of books, watched hours of training videos, read pages of internet tutorials anything related to 3d animation. No other training material comes even close to things I have learned reading this book. It is a treasure that you have to keep somewhere close to your desk as a reference, whether you are modeling a character head, building blend shapes or rigging . I have used the techniques successfully in many projects. I thank Jason Osipa for writing this book and for teaching me how to build superior 3D characters. This is my second SS book, I also have the first edition. This 2nd edition is a lot different then the first.

I hate to say this, but didn't learn much more than which I had already been able to get from online tutorials and forums.

Stop Staring: Facial Modeling and Animation Done RightThis book is a very good resource for computer animators.

Have you ever worked with a facial rig that was based on a set of sliders in the viewport? Many of the most popular free rigs use that method these days. Well guess what -- it's sometimes called "the Osipa method," and it was popularized by the first edition of this book.

As a novice character rigger, this book opened my eyes to an entirely new way of looking at facial modeling, rigging, and animation. I can not recommend it highly enough. These days when I create a character, I always have two books within quick reach: The Art of Rigging (by CG Toolkit, only available from their website) and Stop Staring.

I am a professional 3D character artist and I own a previos version of this book.
I am using Jason Osipa's method of facial set-up for all my characters, for animated film and games. Not only it is the system that's easy to use and understand, but it produces very attractive and believable facial expressions. I would recommend this book to anyone who ever touches digital characters, but especially to 3D modelers and riggers.

This book literally launched my CG animation career. I later took a class in CG animation and modeling and the tutorials in this book were in that class. Its was an excellent class, since it helped you learn the book's content is covered in 3 weeks instead of 2-3 months of night time after work animation. But this book is $30 not $2k.
What a great book. It does assume you know the basics, so learn the basics first and then dive in head first.

not even worth giving it up to my dog to chew on.

I have read several books about 3D Max but I consider this book one of the best books ! and I have learnt a lot from it ...If you want to make professional media animations logos you have to own one !

I have read several books about 3D Max but I consider this book one of the best books ! and I have learnt a lot from it ...If you want to make professional media animations logos you have to own one !

Finally a book that merges great tutorial writing and impressive content. Going through this book, I was intrigued with every sentence. Not only did I want to read what Chismar had to say but I would learn things at random times. New techniques and tricks sprawl throughout this book, were at times I even felt a little guilty getting all this info for just a few bucks. Don't keep us waiting too long for the next one, John.

Yeah nice book, can't wait to get in the bathroom to read some more, 3D animation
is making a big red ring around my a _ _ , Empire of the Sun is starting I'll sit here and watch that too! It's cold in here, is that true about cold surfaces and what they do to your *&#%@^( ?

The book, 1001 Tips & Tricks, has straightforward techniques approach to Learning Advanced LightWave Skills and Knowledge. I purchased Timothy Albee's Lightwave 3D, "Getting Started Guide" which came with my purchase of the program, LightWave from Newtek. The Book got me started back in 2005. (A general skills book covers a broad range of LightWave. But does not get too deep, which is good for beginners.)

I was very interested in and loved cartooning and character creation in 3D. So I purchased Jonny Gorden's "Cartoon Character Creation-Volume 2". If ya don't know and wanna learn Rigging right, get this book. Jonny be getting off with his techniques in this bad boy. Loved the book.

(Jonny's book covers A through Z in Rigging and Animation mostly plus overviews on general knowledge stuff as well. But since I already learned the basics with "Getting Started" I was able to get deep into Jonny's techniques.)

I was a professional Graphic Designer who wanted to move over to the 3D world, I desired to be a power-user at 3D animation. So I purchased Dan Alban's "LightWave [8]," extremely good learning tool. Dan's book got my doing just about anything I could imagine.

(In Depth book cover almost everything. Big pictures illustrations and nicely written make learn easier. Ya gotta get this one.)

But in some areas I was still creating very slowly. Like how to optimize a detailed and completed scene for a render farm, so that I could not only render, but also render scenes very fast. How to build a scene for a real movie that would render quicker than if I built it another way.

For example, I built a scene which took four months to render on a 4 node render farm of fast G5 with 2 gigs of Ram. I'm thinking that, I've got to be able to create the same scene, but in such as that it would render in say, two weeks. I wanted to learn the fastest power moves, since I work alone in my home studio. I do not have peers and co-worker to exchanged knowledge with

Then, I order this book, and it fit the bill. It helps to complete my learning needs and answered and reconfirmed, other books and technique that I pick up off of the Internet.

This is an excellent book it is a most get. Although I got it for advanced how tos; there is beginner level help here as well. A lot of the dudes and dudettes that I've learned from through downloading Internet QuickTime movies from the Newtek website and other places, these movies are excellent show and tell ways to learn. But with expressions and certain dynamic it is good to have it in a book form as well.

(Since there are so many experts contributing to this book, you get a really balanced guide to knowledge. If you are going to be a power-user, this book completes the other books and knowledge that I have accumulated. You got to it as well.) "1000 Tips and Tricks," book is worth every penny of the cost.

I'm one of the authors, so take that into account. Still, there are around thirty authors total so I'm at most 1/30th biased.

That being said, this is a real standout among LightWave books and one I'm proud to be part of. The strength is in the numbers - never before have you gotten such a wide and varied number of opinions in one place. Because there are so many different approachs to creating 3D art, this book is really a must own and it's a book you'll go back to again and again. I keep a copy on my desk, within easy reach and I pick it up for reference or for some quick reading during a render.

It also covers a wide variety of topics, from lighting to surfacing to LScripts. Not every tip is something I agree with, but that's the beauty of this book - there's just so much information here that you'll be finding new things to think about or to add to your work for years to come.

The blurbs about this book are right. There are no other places I have found for the kind and quality of information contained in this book... at least for a non-super expert in Lightwave 3D.

Yet at the same time, there is much redundancy within the book itself (several tips are essentially identical) and with the reference manual provided by NewTek.

So there are really quite a few less than 1001 super neat and fantabulous tips and tricks here, but there are plenty enough to make the purchase a valuable addition to your reference library for LW8.

Without wasting time here...if you're a Lightwaver, you should get this book. Put the bills on hold, if necessary, and eat cereal for a week. :-) As a beginning - intermediate Lightwave user/student, I've bought and read most of the new Lightwave books, and this one is the most valuable, by far. Having this book lying beside your computer is like having 30+ Lightwave gurus at your elbow, whispering their secrets in your ear as you model, texture, and render. There's nothing out there like it...well, Killer Tips maybe but 1001 T & T has tons more information. If ever a book deserves a 5 star rating, this is it.

This book teaches with extreme clarity everything you need to know to program for Director/Shockwave 3D. A rarity amongst programming books due to the didactics, organization, and clarity/accuracy of code. It is current with Director MX 2004 and I suspect it is current with Director 11 given the information Adobe just released. You cannot go wrong with this one. The only problem is that it is hard to find, I had to buy my copy from a reseller.

I have every book publish about developing interactive 3D using director. This is the best one of the bunch. After reading this book I wish I hadn't purchased any of the others. Although the book is for director 8.5 it still the best book for Director 3D +

As anyone knows reading this review knows Director is the only program that will allow you to create 3D games and programs for the web. Hopefully Adobe will update it rather than let a very powerful program fade away.

This is an excellent book for Director and Director 3D. It is very in depth and involved, although a bit hard to understand at times. This book is not for beginners and requires a lot of hard work to obtain its end results, but they are very much worth it.

Other reviews have captured the gist of this wonderful, accessible, and thorough treatment of Director's 3D functionality. What I would like to add is that Catanese's book is just as current with Director MX as it is with Director 8.5.

If you plan to do 3D in Director MX, either games or presentations, you owe it to yourself to read this book.

I'm an IT student and possessing VB & C/C++. I have never learn about 3D and Director before. So when I want to make a Director project (game), I need a book!
And this book is the great answer. Everything you need about Director 3D is in this book! (although this book doesn't cover about Havok Physics Engine).

This book tells you WHAT and HOW, I mean, this book not only tells you HOW to make something (ex: primitive object) but also explains about that thing. (ex: what is a primitive object). So, you're not only able to programm but also understand about WHAT are you doing.

This book explains from basic and the last page explains advance technique. So, if you start from first page and finish the book, you'll become an advance 3D Director programmer (even before you read this, you're nill in 3D Director).

OK, I'll tell you what I get from this book, here is my project: a Multiplayer First Person Shooting (FPS) game! (like Counter Strike, Quake, etc). Notice that this is my FIRST 3D Director project! And I got A!

NB: if you're NOT a programmer and don't WANT to possessing 3D Director programming SERIOUSLY, I don't recommend this book, for this book is code heavy, full of code programming, just try "Macromedia Director 8.5 Shockwave Studio for 3D: Training from the Source" (by Phil Gross).
Just a note: I learn about Multiuser form Director 8.5 Studio (you won't find about Multiuser in Director's Third Dimension).

The companion CD comes with Maya 7 Personal Learning. (The key reason I wanted this book.)

You can't install the software, because it requires a software key.

The link provided to obtain the software key doesn't work.

It brings you to the download page for Maya 8.5 PLE. Maya 8.5 requires Windows XP or MAC OX X. (I'm on Windows 2000, bummer for me, eh?)
Maya moved from Alias to Autodesk.


Basically, this book provides some helpful theory. General theory you could apply to several different software packages. Also, good for improving photography techniques.

was very pleased and excited to see such a great new refreshing book on texturing. Great book for a beginner or advance maya user. Great visuals and will touch on many different topics and will show you technigues on creating difficult textures in maya.

I had certain expectations when I chose this book and I found that it lived up to almost all expectations I had. This book gives you an overview of a large range of Maya's texturing and lighting utility nodes and it explains to the reader all their individual attributes. At the end of each chapter useful tips and tricks are explored in the form of step-by-step tutorials - from lighting to texturing and rendering techniques. One chapter is devoted entirely to Maya's lighs, another to only 2D texturing nodes, a third to 3D texturing nodes, and so on.
It is a good book for people who have already some experience in using Maya and want to broaden their knowledge.
That said the book contains 13 topical chapters plus a 14th chapter filled with "additional techniques". However, the last three chapters (12-14) can only be found as PDF files on the accompanying CD. The printed book itself finishes with chapter 11. The book could also do with an update to bring it in line with the extensive changes to Maya's UI since the release of version 8.5, but if you use your brain a little you can use Maya's online reference to help you locate menus that have been moved or renamed since this book was published.

This Book is just Perfect...it tells you EVERYTHING about the Lighting and the Texturing.... if you want to learn about that 2 things... Buy This Book NOW

I bought this manual to help me ugrade from Maya 7.0 to Maya 8.5 and it's become my most prized and relied upon resource. Every tutorial I've gone through has worked perfectly (no missing steps or errors so far), Mr. Lanier writes coherently & well, and each new topic is presented in a straightforward and matter-of-fact fashion.

As a professional Video Game Artist, I've reccommended this manual to our enitire company of 300, and will continue to do so to everyone else. In the past, decent documentation on the finer points of Maya has been elusive, but Mr. Lanier has saved us! I will be adding his other manuals to my library.

Yes, you can still learn of lot from this book, as noted in the other reviews. But it is now showing its age. This book was written for Sketchup 4.0 when only a time-limited trial was available for free. Sketchup is now at version 6.0 and free from Google (except for the pro version). The advice in this book on how to squeeze a tutorial session into a time-limited trial is just distracting. More importantly, you will not be introduced to the new features in 6.0, such as styles and better organization of model structure. It would be very useful to have Dennis Fukai's advice on how best to use Sketchup 6.0.

When the book/CD came I had problems getting the CD to work Didn't know if it was me or the CD or my PC. I contacted Mr.Fukai and he e-mailed me back immediatly. He stayed with me through a dozen Emails trying to help me.
The CD was bad BTW and he had his wife send me out a new one that worked just fine.
I was a bit exhausted from it all by the time the CD came but stuff happens to the best of us.
The CD is incredably helpful along with the book of illustrations. I haven't gotten through even half of it due to my work load but I'm sure when I continue with it I won't have much trouble in spite of being PC challenged.
Mr.Fukai I think has this book geared for people like myself as well as hard core PC users.
He seems to be doing his best to take you through it one step at a time slowly and deliberate.
I highly recommend this book/CD

I am sure if you are a Google fan you now know that they offer SketchUp for free. Dr. Fukai's book assumed you had a limited amount of time (480 minutes) using the SketchUp 4.0 trial version included with his book. I can say that his book is truly one fantastic way to learn a lot about the details of modeling with SketchUp. Dr. Fukai's interactive "shorties" allows you to go over as often as needed to learn the details of this 3D software. I was having some difficulty part way through the tutorials and emailed Dr. Fukai and received detailed instructions on how to proceed. He is an excellent teacher and his book is highly recommended.

The book is awsome! The instructions are so detailed and outlined. I plan on building my own family home, this is the Book!

As for the author, a master of his craft!

Mr. Fukai and Mrs. Babara Fukai, You have both left a wonderful lasting memory in my mind!

Thanks You

Michael in San Antonio Texas

I study architecture in Havana, Cuba. I'd like to learn more about this matter specially 3d Architectural Working Drawings but, I can not have possibilities to buy any of yor books. Can you help me out? thanks, Roany.

Technology affects art and the many changes in computer animation and effects means that the art world faces both new challenges and new innovations in 3D modeling. Surprisingly, Peter Ratner explains, the changes mean less technical challenges for artists with more ability to focus on creating art rather than deciphering computer systems - and the second edition of his Mastering 3D Animation is just the place to begin. Ratner is a professor of the topic at James Madison University - and the founder and head of the first computer animation program in Virginia, so his background lends particularly well to discussions. His paintings and computer graphics have received exhibition and acclaim - also a plus for artists seeking more than just a programmer's technical tips.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, from its technical standpoint of working between the program and the supporting 3D theory/thought process that Mr. Ratner provides.

Finding that balance of an artist and technologist from where to launch one's vision and future visions of creativity starts with good knowledge. Ratner gives many facets of where to see this vision and tutorials to follow through with your own creative projects.

I commonly work with many high-end graphics programs, Lightwave 7.0 being my newest program on my plate. Peter Ratner's 3d book getting me from a begining user from just reading the index to a 3D artist ready to start the new facets of my own portfolio. Mastering 3D Animation helped quite a bit everything from the Modeling and subdivides to the theory/progress.

Joseph Arthur
Information Architects, Principal

Peter J. Ratner's second authoring effort, Mastering 3D Animation, is a 333-page softcover text that is a comprehensive, detailed and practical tutorial guide addressing nearly every aspect and segment of the 3D graphics genre. The book's 14 chapters-and accompanying follow-along CD for PC and Mac-speak to modeling (beginning and advanced), animation, special effects, lighting, surfacing techniques, facial animation, elements of action, figure movements and composition and cinematography. It's an exceptionally capable complement to Ratner's first book, 3-D Human Modeling and Animation. (Ratner currently is updating the latter text with a wholesale rewrite.)

Make no mistake: This is no cursory guide to constructing simple geometry, slapping on some stock textures, animating basic movements along spline paths and rendering to AVI while you're sipping on a latte, watching the Discovery Channel. A full-time professor in the 3D Computer Animation department of James Madison University and the program's founder, Ratner relies on the broad and substantial digital and conventional art experience that has rewarded him with artistic entries in more than 80 national and international juried exhibitions. Ratner is well-versed in most aspects of 3D art creation, choreography and cinematography. The results of his industry experience are a splendid collection of detailed and refined insights and experiences assimilated into a thorough tutorial guide. I have no doubt-as many experts agree-that Mastering 3D Animation is equipped to serve as a collegiate-level textbook for 3D computer animation curricula.

Spanning the many processes related to generating 3D digital art, Ratner illustrates his critical techniques with 658 black-and-white line drawings and grayscale screen captures. The images vary from basic and sketchy but illustrative black-only perspectives, steps and graphs to grayscale representations depicting character renderings, particle systems, height fields, geometric displacements, facial close-ups, rendered environments and more. Of particular interest to those having cinematography or traditional art backgrounds are the commentary, instructions and grayscale reproductions of painted and sketched art dating back multiple centuries.

Those attending to a more technical emphasis and interest are accommodated in every respect, however-minus superficial references to hardware specifications. Early on, Ratner clarifies his intentions in composing this text: "[The book's] purpose is not to create button pushers who can boast about megahertz, abundant RAM, big monitors and software with all kinds of bells and whistles. It is hoped that aspiring 3D artists will learn some valuable lessons from the great art geniuses that have preceded them." (Foreward/vii) Yes, Ratner does wane philosophical, at times, but his contemplative tendencies bring a refreshing and purist perspective to a field frequently inundated by overly technical meanderings and functionally pointless rambling. Thus, Ratner blends an in-depth artistic and technical knowledge with a practicality and philosophy altogether forming a well-rounded perspective-one catering to persons of various inclinations and backgrounds.

The companion CD contains 200-plus 3D models in a variety of formats: LightWave 3D's .lwo and .lws; Wavefront's .obj; Maya's .ml and the generic .dxf. Tutorial project files are archived in QuickTime (.mov) and JPEG (.jpg) formats, and Ratner also includes a Photoshop brush file (.abr) for creating "grime" textures.

As for the text's informational composition, chapters one and two explore the basics of 3D modeling-polygonal and spline-based (NURBS). Chapter 3 addresses basic 3D animation, while the fourth delves further into animation by considering the role of deformation tools: skeletons ("bones"); kinematics; lattice flexors, etc. In Chapter 5, Ratner explains special effects, including the use of spheres, particles, collision detection, voxels, fragments, displacement mapping and more. Part II of the text, Advanced 3D Modeling, begins with commentary about the human head's structure and composition, including muscles and bone. Ratner explains both the NURBS- and polygon- based methods for modeling the head. Special attention is allotted to features, such as the eyes, eyelids, eye sockets and ears. There's no lack of detail, here, and NURBS fans will experience a rare sensation-a feeling of belongingness.

The next two chapters, six and seven, are devoted to modeling the human figure. The latter stresses finishing-hair, eyelashes and clothing. Chapters 9 and 10 comprise Part III: Preparing for Animation. Lighting is the focus of Chapter 9, and Chapter 10-another that may appeal particularly to conventional artists-deals with surfacing techniques. The author goes beyond the typical texture map types-cylindrical, planar, spherical, cubic, etc.-and the use of photos to address alternative surfacing methods, such as transparency (alpha) and displacement maps. In short, Ratner extends well beyond the conventional surfacing methods most highly publicized, deeply exploring what might be categorized more aptly as upper-echelon trade tips than as common genre knowledge: creating sophisticated bump maps; using grayscale gradients in displacement; and more.

Part IV of the book, Character Animation Fundamentals, includes chapters 11-14: Expressing Emotion with Facial Animation (11); The Elements of Action (12); Movements of the Figure (13); Composition and Cinematography (14). Once again, the author uses an expansive knowledge of choreography and anatomy to help quantify how human emotions are exhibited: body posturing; eye wideness; lip contour; eyebrow position; even directional muscular pull. Each of these considerations can be projected in a 3D figure, and Ratner shows the reader how. "A muscle is composed of a bundle of fibers that work in mutual association to perform common duties," Ratner writes on Page 248. "... It is this combination of movements that results in the complicated harmony of the facial muscles."

The Elements of Action chapter confronts those issues pertinent to a convincing human portrayal by a mere collection of polygons or surfaced curved lines: timing; sound syncing; weight and recoil ("squash and stretch"); walk cycles and more. Chapter 13 addresses concerns complementary to those in the previous one, including body mass motion, pace and impact, equilibrium, action lines, rhythm and still more. The final score of this harmonized tutorial prose pursues line composition, spatial arrangement, blocking (proxy geometry) and all manner of photographic issues and techniques. The reader will learn practical cinematography terminology-camera techniques and movements, transitions, more-and the fundamental tenets of motion depiction utilized by artists centuries earlier.

Mastering 3D Animation is a wonderful book, full of useful information that you will refer to again and again. It covers many complicated issues in an easy-to-understand way so that beginners and advanced users alike can grasp the information. Definately a title that will remain in your library for years to come.

Although a nice book that goes into depth in areas that other modeling books haven't, the generalized, not-to-mention-one-specific-application approach the author has taken left me, a beginner, bewildered and drooling. Also, I think some of what isn't explained in detail was not explained purposely as it was difficult to put into words and considered common sense, which seems to be the case with several tutorials and books that I've read on modeling. I want to know things like: Once I have my splines slapped down in a front perspective, how do I push and pull them properly from other perspectives so they'll take shape, or When defining detail with polygons, how many should I tesselate, how can I manipulate them to look like a gradual bump for a muscle and not a sharp cornered cliff? To sum it up, the book was written for the more experienced and those who are very well aquainted with their software packages-I was expecting step-by-step modeling for newbies.

This book is the best tutorial for learning 3ds Max that I've read. It is not for novices, in that it assumes you know the 3ds Max interface. However, it is a step-by-step guide for creating professional quality animations for broadcast media. The author works for MSNBC. He breaks down 3 real-world projects in an easy-to-understand way, from storyboards to final output. This single book jump-started my understanding of complex modeling and animation techniques using 3ds Max. Although this book was made for version 4 of the program (the program is currently in version 9), the interface has not changed significantly in that it would make this book obsolete. I used it using version 6 and returned to it in version 8 with no difficulties. Well worth your time.

I am a beginner user of Viz and Max and will be using it for architectural 3D rendering. What I look for in a text book are lengthy tutorial exercises. I want to know step by step everything that I have to do to reproduce what the author is showing. This book is great for that. There are three main excercises that go the full length of the 550 pages of this book. As an example the 2002 voting machine tutorial goes from pages 182 to 315, covering each step of the construction. Chismar even includes alternate means of construction to show why one method works better than other methods.

I am looking forward to an updated book by Chismar on the lastest release of Max. I have not heard if one is being made.

One slight drawback...Chismar does not deal with the possiblities of drawing and rendering for architecture. If the new release of Max does include the architectural functions of Viz, then there will be a need for tutorials on those items. None the less the command structure of the software for Viz and Max is virtually the same, so learning that part from Chismar's book is still very important.

The most important feature of this book is the lengthy step by step tutorials. This is the first thing I look for in a computer book - to see that the tutorials are long. to me this indicates that the writer is very thorough with all steps in the project and does not leave out important steps along the way.

If you buy used make sure the disk is included.

Overall, it is a good book with clear instruction for intermediate user.

I give it 4 stars since it doesn't tell you the detailed procedures to reproduce the cool special effect described in the Part 4 (Real World Case Stuides).

This book is a fantastic example of how all computer text books should be structured - Step-by-step tutorials that demonstrate experienced solutions to real-world projects. I know I speak for many people when I say that I learn by DOING, not by reading paragraphs upon paragraphs of text and lengthy descriptions of "what this app can do for you". No one likes to attempt to digest a "features description" manual and try to piece together the various complexities of a high-end application like 3DS MAX from various disjointed sources. I need a seasoned, talented professional, with years of industry experience, to step me through exactly how an application performs various industry tasks, e.g. how to make a 30-second TV spot from scratch, how to make a highly-professional News program opener, or how to make robotic-looking voting machines animated together in a 3-camera shoot. John Chrismar performs this tasks with a detail and finesse that is extremely hard to find in the computer textbook industry. I look for this style in every computer book I pick up, but don't often find it, if at all. The industry giants on the programming side of the industry, like Wrox Press, should use John's book as an example of how to write an effective computer textbook. Don't waste my time with information overload, stuffed together losely by a quasi-team of 6 geeks. SHOW ME how you solved a problem with the application or programming language, from start to finish, while I follow along, bit by bit, line by line, click by click. Show me how to build a genuine and valuable creation using the tool you are teaching me to use. This is exactly what John does.

I started with the last of three tutorials and worked backward through the book, because the News Program Opener tutorial looked the most intriguing. I learned more about 3DS MAX after that one tutorial then I had by reading the documentation or from any of the other three 3DS MAX books I own. I saw someone else mention that there were some small mistakes and missed "figure" numbers on the screenshots here and there, but this did not detract from completing the tutorials in the slightest. Two extra seconds of thought got me passed these minor editing oversights very easily, and they were very minor in comparison to most computer textbooks.

It was beyond refreshing to witness and practice along with a professional at work from beginning to end: from importing your vectors from Illustrator, to cleaning up the splines, to extruding, modelling each piece, assembling, naming conventions, creating materials, shortcuts, to animating, adding a soundtrack, right down to post-production and final render. I absolutely can not stand books where Step 1 is "Import our half-finished Design #643.2 from our accompanying CD-ROM". Not the case with this book. You are stepped through the process, end to end. When you are done with each tutorial, you have a finished work of media art THAT YOU CREATED and a head full of usable, retainable 3DS MAX knowledge that can be carried into any job or hobby.

Excellent job, John. You have gained a new fan. I will purchase your other books, regardless of topic. :D

Thank you.

I read Susan Perabo's collection after being her student over Christmas. Wow.
These stories amaze me. Well written, she does so well what she has taught her own students. The gears in my head turned, and I finally understood all those things she wrote on my stories or tried to explain in class.
I love her characters. The data processing woman with the Diana dress. The pot smoking music teacher father. The woman whose baby just died. The actor whose marriage is ending so he invites a klepto father to stay with him. On and on they go, so confused, so much in pain, but she makes their lives and situations funny. It's a bittersweet pain, but Perabo has one of the most original ways of communicating pain I've seen since the writers she told us to read.
I still can't get out of my mind the one called "Explaining Death to the dog". The pain the woman feels when showing the dog the book of Time photos or showing her the dead animal, wow. I read it three times in a row the first night I read it. I am still in awe of it.
As she told my class so many times, "Show, don't tell."
Perabo shows. I can't believe I was lucky enough to have classes with her. I just wish I read these sooner.

Barring a very few exceptions, the stories presented here are top-notch. I finished this book in half a day, and wanted more when I ran out of stories. I would love to see more stories about the characters here!

I found this collection by accident and didn't know what to expect. Short stories can be so good, or so bad. These stories are very good, and consistently good. These are stories of people searching for something missing in their lives, well told stories with humor and heart. Enjoy this collection.

Should be 'nuf said -- but I want to add that the author's voice is completely true! (i think this a book for older people -- ie, over 40 -- who understand about disappointment, and transformation). What a read!

This book came with high recommendations and expectations but for me the book failed to live up to them. The characters are inventive and memorable but their treatment falls short and the stories repeatedly end on a dissatisfying note. I agree with the Amazon review that her characters' promise and development seems to stall out of some kind of self conscious regard for academic critique and conflict, etc. (I'm not an academic, but you can feel their eyes on the text.) I wish she'd just let it rip. I also think the writing suffers from a lack of a clear voice; the voice often seem contrived and forced and in some instances just competely derails the story. The good part is the characters themselves, who are memorable despite their author's too-often shallow treatment.